Since becoming a resident of Santa Barbara’s Upper East Side in 2015, whenever people ask for recommendations in the Theater District, or for S.B. in general, The Good Lion and Sama Sama Kitchen are the first names to leave my lips.
Two rights certainly can’t make a wrong, and this is proven by Good Lion Hospitality’s latest concept in Downtown Ventura, a hybrid of both S.B. mainstays: Strange Beast.
When property in a gorgeous historic 1924-era building opened up, Good Lion husband and wife cofounders, Brandon and Misty Ristaino, jumped at the opportunity to open an izakaya-style bar and team up with their Michelin Bib Gourmand neighbors at Sama Sama to create a menu of Japanese tapas to pair with their drinks.
“After almost nine years of being neighbors to Sama Sama at The Good Lion, we have become great friends with their owners and team,” Brandon said. “We mentioned our cocktail izakaya concept to them over drinks, and they were stoked on the idea. Their passion for food, travel, beverages, and hospitality, and ours combined, makes for a great partnership.”
And a delicious one at that. But let’s start with a beverage or two. For Good Lion Hospitality’s fifth bar (in addition to The Good Lion, they also have Test Pilot and Shaker Mill in Santa Barbara, and Bank of Italy in Ventura), Strange Beast’s cocktail menu, singing with Japanese flavors, is truly a testament to the group’s creativity, talent, and enthusiasm.
“We love the idea of a cocktail izakaya; an approachable concept where one can sit comfortably, enjoy great music (and karaoke!), nosh on Japanese tapas, and drink cocktails, sake, beer, and natural wines that pair with the cuisine,” Brandon said.
We started the evening with the belle of the ball, and one of Brandon’s favorites, the Melon Ball Z. As with all of their concepts, Brandon collaborated with longtime Good Lion cocktail partner and friend Jon Jarrett on the menu. Jarrett is the mastermind behind this refreshing highball bursting with gin, honeydew, yuzu, sake, cinnamon, and tonic. It’s an ideal palate-perker. Other cocktail highlights include the dazzling Chartreuse Swizzle, a punch of green chartreuse, pineapple, Bajan light rum, lime tiki spices, and mint.
I was personally also wowed by the small but mighty wine list created by longtime Good Lion friend and collaborator Lenka Davis. The crisp and dry riesling paired perfectly with my ethereal first bites, including the dizzyingly good salmon and scallop hand rolls, and perhaps the most show-stopping bite of the night — yellowtail crudo with yuzu kosho, soy, and crispy garlic. They source their seafood from the Santa Barbara Fish Market, and it shows in every refreshing and buttery morsel.
“We hope our guests are able to slow down, sip some tasty beverages, and eat what we think is brilliant food from some extremely talented chefs,” Brandon said. As soon as I had those first dishes, that’s exactly the desire I yearned for — wanting time to stand still, to be able to melt into my seat and try everything this dark and moody mecca, dotted with Japanese folklore pop art, had to offer.
As we danced through the menu, pausing to praise their wildly delightful take on the omnipresent kale Caesar salad reinvigorated with miso and brown butter panko, the comforting katsu don rice bowl, and I couldn’t help but revisit those candy-like Sama Sama wings also found here. It was as if I’d drifted away into an izakaya dream land.
As we tucked into a beautiful miso panna cotta dotted with whipped cream and black sesame biscuit, our excellent server brought out the ideal waker-upper: cold Japanese sake. Misty’s passion for sake helped spearhead this concept, and we were impressed with their selection, including a delectable Kamoizumi Nigori Ginjo Nama, or “Summer Snow.” Their beer list is also short but strong, with Draughtsman’s delectable Nama Biru rice lager leading the charge.
With Wednesday Karaoke Night already launched and loaded with a late-night happy hour (actually seven nights a week), Suntory spirit cocktails, and izakaya bar food, the team’s momentum for magic is in full force.
“We’re working with our distributors to set up a few ticketed dinners. We’ll launch the program in September with a sake paired dinner, and I’m putting together a Japanese whiskey and cocktail paired event in the fall,” Brandon said.
Be sure to swing by for their Ramen Night every Sunday. The ramen theme changes weekly, and all are sure to impress, but especially the rich Duck Ramen.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Good Lion Hospitality and Sama Sama Kitchen have not only learned this lesson but have taken it a step further — not by fixing their existing concepts but in expanding, collaborating, and sharing their brilliance in new and exciting ways.
394 E. Main St., Ste. B, Ventura; strangebeastbar.com
